The Producers & Engineers Wing was well represented in Washington, D.C., at GRAMMYs on the Hill and Recording Arts Day. Along with P&E Wing Executive Director Maureen Droney, members of the Wing who took part in the day's activities, from attending briefings to visiting with their congressional representatives, included Texas Chapter President Malcolm Harper, New York P&E Wing Chapter Committee Co-Chair and Steering Committee member Phil Ramone, Florida Chapter Chair and Steering Committee member Eric Schilling, Florida Chapter President Carlos Alvarez, D.C. P&E Wing Chapter Committee Co-Chairs Richard Burgess and James McKinney, and, of course, Recording Academy Chair and music producer Jimmy Jam.

The evening's GRAMMYs on the Hill gala honored Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Quincy Jones and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) for their contributions to the music community. At the event's keynote speech, Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow announced for the first time the outcome of an unprecedented two-day retreat that was in part facilitated by the Producers & Engineers Wing. Held in July against the creative backdrop of George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, the retreat assembled some of the best and brightest working in the digital music field who joined together to envision a set of music and technology principles.

The keynote speech, given one year to the day after Portnow called for a "music and technology truce," brought presidents, CEOs and other high-level leaders to this first-of-its-kind discussion. Executives from digital music services such as Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, SNOCAP and Pandora; technology manufacturers such as Microsoft and Sandisk; retailers including Best Buy and Amazon; major and independent music publishers; and all four major music labels came to Skywalker Ranch for the retreat (a full list of attendees is available below). Additionally, accomplished music creators Ronnie Dunn (of Brooks & Dunn), producer/songwriter Jimmy Jam, Leslie Ann Jones of Skywalker Sound, and producer Phil Ramone took part in the retreat.

In his keynote address at GRAMMYs on the Hill, Portnow noted, "Many of these executives were meeting face-to-face for the first time and to us, that in and of itself was important. That they engaged in such an honest and open dialogue was even more fulfilling. That they all agreed to continue the discussion beyond the retreat was gratifying all the more. But perhaps paramount were their contributions to several guiding philosophies, which we're calling the GRAMMY Music & Technology Principles." Unveiled for the first time at GRAMMYs on The Hill, these principles include:

  • Music creators are the foundation of the music business and must be adequately compensated regardless of the technology
  • Meeting the needs of consumers is critical, and the music and technology industries must provide a wide array of business models that appeal to consumers and value compensation to creators and copyright owners
  • New technologies are essential to the future of the music business, therefore an environment for experimentation and innovation — that respects copyright and music creators — should be fostered
  • Interoperability across hardware and services is essential to the consumer experience and should be a priority in the digital music space
  • The best defense against music piracy is a vibrant, complete and legal digital marketplace
  • The industry must make faster rights clearances a higher priority in order to grow the legal digital distribution of music and to more effectively compete with the enormous volume of titles available through illegitimate sources
  • The music economy is not a zero-sum game; music and technology sectors can both benefit as the business grows
  • Continued dialogue among music and technology leaders is essential to facilitating growth in the marketplace.

"We realize that these principles are just a first step in greater cooperation between the music and technology sectors," Portnow added. "There will continue to be hurdles and challenges ahead as we adapt to the new marketplace. But I have great respect for these leaders who came to Skywalker to build consensus, and I believe the entire industry should follow their example and the standards they have set forth."

Music & Technology Leadership Retreat Participants

Gary Arnold, senior vice president of entertainment, Best Buy Corporation
Pete Baltaxe, director of worldwide digital music, Amazon.com
Rio Caraeff, executive vice president of Elabs, Universal Music
Ted Cohen, managing partner, TAG Strategic
Michael Downing, CEO, GoFish
Maureen Droney, Executive Director of Producers & Engineers Wing, The Recording Academy
Ronnie Dunn, artist/songwriter, Brooks & Dunn
Daryl Friedman, Vice President of Advocacy & Government Relations, The Recording Academy
Chris Gorog, chairman & CEO, Napster
Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business, Sony BMG
Jimmy Jam, producer/songwriter, Flyte Tyme
Leslie Ann Jones, director of music recording & scoring, Skywalker Sound
Joe Kennedy, CEO, Pandora
Michael Nash, senior vice president of Internet strategy & business development, Warner Music Group
David Pakman, president & CEO, eMusic
Richard Perna, co-chief executive officer, Evergreen Copyrights
Neil Portnow, President/CEO, The Recording Academy
Phil Ramone, producer, Phil Ramone Inc.
David Renzer, chairman & CEO, Universal Music Publishing
Bobby Rosenbloum, entertainment attorney, Greenberg Traurig
Rusty Rueff, CEO, SNOCAP
Daniel Schreiber, senior vice president of audio/video, SanDisk
Daniel Sheeran, senior vice president of music & video, RealNetworks Inc.
Ann Sweeney, executive vice president, Warner/Chappell
Chip Wood, senior director of business development & strategy, Microsoft
Barney Wragg, global head of digital music, EMI